Work Text:
Mahdi: Where's my weed, bro?
I’ll get it. Relax
Mahdi: TODAY!
🫡
*
“Do I have to do this?” Isak groans.
“Yes!” Sana says firmly. “It’s the season of giving. Christianity speaks of charity and Islam says we need to help the less fortunate ones.”
Speaking of that—Isak’s not so fortunate himself. He’s constantly broke, having to say no to Friday beers, eat noodles every other day and beg his idiot dad for money to help pay the rent. Somebody should be helping him.
“But I’m not religious?”
“But you’re a decent human being. And you want your weed back, right?”
Isak meets Sana’s stern voice with a grumble. If she hadn’t gone fucking Escobar on him and kept Mahdi’s weed hostage after that unfortunate party at Eva’s last weekend that got shut down by the police, he would’ve left her with with a jolly hasta manana and taken the tram in the opposite direction.
“Sana–” Isak whines, having trouble keeping up with her, his movements sluggish, a heavy throbbing ache behind his eyes every time his feet hit the ground. “My head is about to explode–”
“Tough luck. Not my fault you got drunk last night.”
“I didn’t. It’s because–”
Sana swiftly turns around, raising her eyebrow, clearly not buying his lie.
“Okay, so maybe I drank a little.”
“Then stop whining like a tree year old and get moving. We ain't got the whole day. Mum’s waiting for us at the food truck.”
*
They meet Sana’s mother at the open space outside the subway station at Grønland. She greets Isak with a bright smile, telling him how pleased she is that he wants to help. With a fake smile, Isak replies it’s the season of giving , causing Sana to roll her eyes and look like she’s ready to spill the beans any minute. Thankfully she doesn’t.
Mama Bakkoush is in charge of cooking the stew they are serving, along with some women from the mosque, and after giving them a few instructions she heads back to the kitchen.
“See you soon, Sana.”
“Okay, mum.”
“This is gonna be the worst day ever.” Isak mutters annoyed into his burgundy scarf.
“You need to change your attitude! People don’t come here to be served by a grump.”
“I didn’t exactly sign up for this.”
“Well.” Sana opens the door to the truck. “If you’d taken better care of your stash you wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Escobar!” Isak grumbles.
“Stop whining and help me get things ready.”
Isak drags himself inside the shoebox of a food truck, reluctantly starting to unpack the big cardboard box Sana shoves into his hands, placing paper bowls, wooden spoons and plastic cups wherever he finds space.
The sweet aroma drifting over from the huge casseroles filled with Moroccan stew makes Isak’s hungry stomach churn in an unpleasant way. It smells delicious, but he’s pretty sure his stomach won’t hold it. Well, it doesn't really matter. Sana would most definitely bite his head off if he asked for some.
Opening the hatch at the side of the truck, a familiar face suddenly pops up. Even, the guy Isak has been crushing on ever since their first encounter at the Bakkoush house a little over a year ago, stands tall and beautiful next to Sana.
“Halla, Isak!”
“H-hi, Even.” Isak stutters, seeing Even’s smile spread beautifully across his face.
“You’ll be working with Isak today,” Sana explains.
“Cool!” Even grins, showing off his cute vampire teeth.
“Huh?” Isak looks confused at Sana through the open hatch, his heartbeat speeding up and nerves kicking in. “What about you?”
“I’m gonna help mum make more stew at the mosque.”
Fuck! How is Isak supposed to survive working side by side with the most handsome guy in Oslo—and with the worst hangover ever? Isak walks around the food truck, nervously smiling at Even who lights up upon seeing him.
“We’re gonna have so much fun.”
“Based on how much Isak whined on the way here, I’m not sure how fun it will be,” Sana says walking past them. “I think he has the worst hangover ever.”
Even laughs. “Ouch.”
Sana turns around, meeting Isak’s unamused look with a narrow gaze. “I’m leaving now. Please don’t fuck up.”
Isak rolls his eyes. “Likewise.”
The preparation for the opening continues and Even nudge Isak playfully as they fill up paper cups with soda. “You kinda look like shit.”
“Thanks for the reminder.”
Isak’s eyeroll has Even chuckle. “Rough yesterday?”
“Yeah.” Isak groans, thinking about last night's stupid drinking game. “Shared a bottle of vodka with some friends.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah.” Isak huffs loudly, his head still pounding massively. “I’m waiting for the painkillers to kick in.”
“You didn’t consider staying home instead?”
Even’s face softens and shivers run down Isak’s spine as Even carefully runs his fingers across his temple.
“I– I tried.” Isak’s breath hitches. “But Sana wouldn’t let me.”
“Why not?” Even looks surprised at Isak who contemplates what to say before settling for a funny answer, afraid of what he will think of him if he told him the truth. “She said something about charity and blah, blah, blah.”
Even laughs. “Fascinating story.”
The space outside the food truck quickly fills up with hungry drug addicts and outliers, their faces gaunt, hollowed out by years of bad nutrition, addiction and lack of sleep. Even serves everyone with a blending smile and encouraging words while Isak works in the background, filling up the bowls with stew and cups with soda.
Waves of nausea rush through Isak’s aching body, making it difficult to concentrate. Having Even so close doesn’t help one bit either, his lingering looks and subtle touches adding pressure to his already frayed nerves.
“It’s very yummy, but be careful—it’s also very hot.”
Even’s chirpy warning to the young, short haired girl in the front of the line has Isak’s mind drift off to places it shouldn’t be, his cheeks heating up picturing Even naked.
“Fucking shit!” Suddenly there is stew everywhere—on the table, his jeans, shoes and the floor.
“Oh shit. You okay?” Even asks, words laced with worry.
“Yeah, sorry.” Isak nods embarrassed. “Just clumsy.” He scoops up most of the stew before filling a new bowl.
“Take a short break and drink this.” Even hands Isak a coke. “I’ll plate up in the meantime.”
“Thank you.”
There’s lots of hungry people and it doesn’t take long before the first casserole is empty. Isak huffs and puffs at the seemingly never ending queue. Shortly after, Sana stops by with a new big casserole.
“Isak isn’t whining too much?” she asks with a light chuckle.
“No, he’s the perfect sidekick. Been working non-stop since the first people came.”
“Well that’s– impressive–”
“Even too.” Isak mumbles to himself, staring blissfully into the casserole, Sana’s mocking laughter just a faint sound in the background. Even has been perfect too—so sweet and considerate, making an excellent system that caters to his hangover.
After Sana leaves them with a see you later and another hectic forty minutes goes by, the long queue has dwindled down to a few people. Even hands a hunchbacked man a second serving before offering two thirsty women something to drink.
“How’s Sonja doing?” Isak asks, instantly regretting the words tumbling out of him. He doesn’t really care about Even’s longtime girlfriend and he definitely doesn’t want to talk about her.
“I have no idea.” Even shrugs.” We’re not together anymore.”
“Oh.” A glimmer of hope flashes in front of Isak and he looks down, biting his lip to prevent his lips from curling up in a smile. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. She was a controlling bitch, so I ended it. It’s better to be single. Or– well– I know I want someone . Not just her .”
When Isak looks up, Even stares at him with his big beautiful blue eyes and a soft smile, causing all his internal organs to jumble. The smile swiftly curling Isak’s lips is inevitable. There’s no time to stop it and he doesn’t really want to either. Maybe he has a shot at Even after all? Not right now of course, but another day when he feels less shitty?
The word about the free Moroccan stew must have spread because suddenly there’s quite a few new people in line again. Isak is less enthusiastic about the queue, but his mood instantly changes seeing how Even energetically serves people with a chirpy voice and a warm, genuine smile reaching his eyes.
There’s barely any stew left when they close the food truck an hour later. A rumble loud as a lion's roar fills the truck as Isak sits down on the stool with a deep exhale, the weight of the day hanging heavy on his body.
“Here. I figured out you could need some.” Even hands him a bowl with stew.
Isak looks into the casserole, the bottom scraped free. “What about you?”
“I can eat later.”
“No,” Isak protests, grabbing another fork. “We should share.”
“It’s fine. You’ve been a superman today and I want you to have it.”
A warm feeling spreads inside Isak’s body upon seeing Even’s soft and tender smile.
“Thank you. Breakfast wasn't really on my mind this morning.”
“I thought so.”
Isak wolfs down the stew along with a glass of water, stilling the worst hunger and queasy feeling inside him, while Even fills a cardboard box with leftover paper cups, bowls and wooden forks. There’s still stew on the floor from the bowl Isak dropped earlier and Isak grabs the mop with a loud huff.
“I need to clean this mess.”
“I‘ll do it.” Even says cheerfully, stealing the mop. “You can just sit on the stool looking pretty.”
Even’s so called wink has Isak’s whole body heat up, his neck and cheeks tinted red.
A little later they are discharged by Sana and her mother with a big thank you. Sana pulls Isak to the side to acknowledge his effort, laughter bubbling when she says she’s amazed he survived the day.
“So–” Isak says to Even, nervously shifting side to side. “Thank you for today.”
“It was fun!” Even beams. “You want to go somewhere? Have a coffee at Kaffebrenneriet, maybe? I can treat you a cinnamon bun?”
“Uh–” Isak hesitates, torn between wanting to spend time with Even and nursing his hangover. “I think I need to go home and nap.”
“Yeah. Sure. I guess it’s been a rough day.”
“The day has been hell,” Isak says, eyes widening seeing Even’s face scrunch up. “W–with the hangover I mean. I had a good time– with you–. The b-best, really.”
Even’s lips curl into a big smile. “Same. We were a good team, right? Serving plenty of food!” Isak nods in agreement. “How about another day?”
“I’d love to,” Isak says, excitement rushing through his tired body.
“Cool, cool! Maybe I can walk you home?”
“Sure– yes.” Isak nods eager, not ready to part with Even just yet, despite feeling like a beaten boxing bag.
They start to walk, steps quickly falling into sync as they talk. The conversation runs so smoothly they forget to turn left at Hausmann’s bridge and end up walking along the river until they reach the kollektivet Isak shares with Eskild and Linn.
Standing in front of the blue door exchanging shy smiles and phone numbers, Mahdi texts Isak, nagging about the weed again. Oh shit. He totally forgot to ask Sana for it.
He quickly texts him back i’ll get it soon before pocketing his phone, groaning loudly when another message comes in not long after he says goodbye to Even.
Thank you again for a fun time. Can’t wait to see you again. Are you available tomorrow?
A giggle escapes Isak's mouth as he falls back into bed thinking about Even and how eager he is. The weed has already slipped his mind
Yes!
Lunch at Kaffebrenneriet in Markveien at 14?
I’ll be there